National Grid Calculates January Nor'Easter by the Numbers

WALTHAM, MA (01/14/2011)(readMedia)-- National Grid has declared victory over the nor'easter that punished New England all day Wednesday, January 12, 2011. At the peak of the storm, more than 80,000 National Grid customers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island were without electric service, primarily concentrated on the south shore of Massachusetts. Last night, 100 percent of those customers had service restored.

"Just two weeks after the holiday blizzard damaged our electric system, we were back at it again, in intense weather conditions working hard to bring service back for our customers. As of 8:30 p.m. Thursday night, we restored service to every customer affected," said Christopher E. Root, senior vice president of Electricity Operations for National Grid. "Our employees displayed extraordinary effort and did a fantastic job for our customers. We want to thank our customers and local and state officials for their patience and assistance throughout this event."

Storm by the Numbers

The company began planning for the storm several days before it hit and quickly amassed a small army to help restore electric service as soon as possible. It implemented its emergency plan of operation; hosted multiple internal calls to coordinate the restoration effort; reached out to local and state officials; arranged food and lodging for thousands of personnel working on the restoration effort; and worked tirelessly around the clock to restore power to thousands of its customers. While data continues to be analyzed, the following are preliminary numbers that indicate the magnitude of the storm's impact and National Grid's response:

• Number of Outages
  • More than 700 in Massachusetts
  • More than 170 in Rhode Island
• Customers Interrupted by Outages
  • 75,000 in Massachusetts at the storm peak
  • 8,000 in Rhode Island at the storm peak
  • 164,000 Mass. and Rhode Island customers throughout the duration of the restoration
• New England Communities Affected
  • More than 70 communities experienced outages
• Restoration Effort
  • 90% restored by 8 p.m. Wed., 1/12/11
  • 100% restored by 8:30 p.m. Thurs., 1/13/11
• Staffing at the Height of the Storm
  • 1100 total
  • 680 line crews
  • 150 tree crews
  • 345 wires down personnel
• More than 500 additional National Grid employees engaged in the storm and restoration effort
• Customer Calls
  • Over 40,000 customers contacted National Grid's call center
  • At the height of the storm, calls came in at the rate of 1,500 per hour
• Lodging & Food
  • Approx. 655 hotel rooms were used to house storm workers
  • Approx. 140 restaurants in National Grid's service area were available for feeding our crews
    

National Grid is an international energy delivery company. In the U.S., National Grid delivers electricity to approximately 3.3 million customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island, and manages the electricity network on Long Island under an agreement with the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA). It is the largest distributor of natural gas in the northeastern U.S., serving approximately 3.4 million customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island. National Grid also owns over 4,000 megawatts of contracted electricity generation that provides power to over one million LIPA customers.

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